Arcadia
Arcadia is an early 8-bit cartridge-based home video game console produced by Alta in Mariana. Introduced in 1978, it was the first and most successful Marianan video game console. Arcadia was developed from 1977, released in Europe in November 1978 and in Anglo-America in March 1979. History Development of the Arcadia began in the spring of 1977. Release 21 November 1978 saw the official release of the Arcadia in Mariana, with a full release across Spain, France and Germany on the 22nd and elsewhere in Europe by the end of 1978. A few Arcadias became available in Anglo-America for Christmas 1978, but these were individual imports only. The first Arcadia consoles went on sale in Anglo-America formally from March 1979. Variants Arcadia The original Arcadia was an all-black console. It featured only four buttons, an on/off switch, a reset button and two difficulty level selectors, with a choice of basic or professional. The controller was a 4-way joystick with a single red button (used for firing or jumping in games). The first Arcadia was last produced in October 1979, making it the rarest model. Arcadia 80 The Arcadia 80 was an upgraded version introduced in December 1979. It had the same specifications as the original model, save for having a second controller and a new hot pink/white logo. The 80 was last produced in August 1981. Arcadia 2 The Arcadia 2 was the final iteration of the Arcadia. It was introduced in March 1981. It featured Atari-style fake wood and saw the introduction of the action controller, an additional controller with not one but two buttons, for new games which allowed players to jump and shoot simultaneously. Final production of the 2 ended in February 1983. Games Space Lasers Space Lasers vertically oriented fixed shooter game, one of the most successful Arcadia game produced. Just over 1 million cartridges were sold. It was developed in Sierra's Silicon Valley. In Space Lasers, one is a spaceman wielding two laser guns. Three different objects go down the screen: *Spiders: the giant spiders are the slowest to come down the screen but many will appear, in higher levels often overwhelming players *Delta-wing fighter: quicker than spiders at coming down the screen *Space ship: The space ship is the fastest to reach the bottom of the screen, and in later levels fire their own lasers As the player reaches each new level after 100-points, the game becomes harder, rotating from either more enemies appearing and them coming down at an even faster pace. After three lives have gone the player is defeated. Unlike Space Invaders, the "enemy does not come out as a long wall, but instead appear somewhat randomly. Space Lasers was the third Arcadia game ever produced, sold for Christmas 1978. It was originally a black and white only game. In time for the release in Sierra and the United Commonwealth, Space Lasers was upgraded to color; a fixed color palette background was placed so as the enemies moved, their color would change. As of 2016 the official points record for Space Lasers was 10140. Space lasers BW.png|Space Lasers (black and white) Space lasers color.png|Space Lasers in color Football Masters Football Masters (known as Football Masters: Soccer in Anglo-America) is a football game introduced for the Arcadia 80. It came available in a special bundle for the Christmas launch, or was sold for 99 lira ($15 in Sierra). Players could choose from between four teams: *Red: Best at defending *Blue: Best at attacking *Purple: Quickest players *Orange: Most precise players The gameplay consisted of five-on-five teams. One would play for two 45 in-game minute halves of 3 minutes each, attempting to score against enemy opponents. An updated version in 1982 featured generic British-sounding teams, replacing the color names with United, Rover, Athletic and City. Mad Max Mad Max was a video game version of the original Mad Max film from 1979, more specifically the pursuit scene from the film. In the game, one controls a brown hatchback and the goal is to destroy the enemy cars. In the first game levels, players are in the city scene, where they have to shoot and destroy enemy cars (the coupes), avoid potholes and semi-trailer trucks and carefully cross a bridge without falling into the water. The next levels are the desert scene, where the player has to avoid pits, ground spikes and again try and hit the enemy cars. In this level a black sedan car appears behind the player, which is able to shoot. Health and fuel packs appear on both levels to be taken and consumed. If fuel runs out the player loses a life, and every time the car is shot at or hits an object a life is lost. Upon release in September 1979, it became an instant hit, but Arcadia received lots of complaints about the back sedan. In response, an updated game was released for the Arcadia 2, to be used with the action controller, where one could use the second button to fire at the sedan. This one also featured an eight-color gradient sky, as opposed to the single blue on the original. Rumble Boxer Rumble Boxer is a simulation 3-D boxing game created by Sportage Games. Rumble boxer featured two 2-d boxers but the boxing ring was shown with false perspective to give the impression of a 3-D ring. Rumble Boxer was released in 1980, as a single player or two-player game. Race Race is a Formula 1-style racing game created by Hani game developer Birdy Games as an arcade game, released on the Arcadia console in 1981. Arcadia was praised for its graphics but was one of the worst games in terms of the actual gameplay, with most critics deriding tat it did not compare to the arcade original. Combo Fighter Combo Fighter is a first-person action game created by Birdy Games in 1981, and released for Arcadia in 1982. The player plays as martial-arts fighter Jacky, taking on a number of opposing fighters. Specifications *256 bytes RAM *Resolution: 160 × 200 pixels *16 color palette or black and white Category:Objects Category:Mariana